I wasn't often Sasuke lost his footing. For him, being ungraceful was up there with shooting yourself in the foot (literally) and walking around with your pants on backwards.

Yes, it was that bad.

He didn't know where his obsession with finely-tuned movement came from, but after a long thought about it, he just came up with the reflection that it showed weakness. If one was in the middle of a fight and accidently tripped over their own foot, that wouldn't put them in a very agreeable position. He'd seen it happened to quite a few men. It didn't matter if they were hulking behemoths or waif-thin skeletons; if one could not control their own movement, they were in for trouble.

This is why he was swearing so loudly as he plummeted down a small hill, head first. He later mused that if he had had a mother, she would have been horrified.

He had just climbed to the top of the small hill when he had been taken off guard and he had heard a loud snarl, followed by a bark. He had reacted by turning towards the noise, only to lose his footing on an unstable piece of ground and begin his painful plunge towards the ground. On his way down, he had also heard someone yell something , although the words were drown out by the noise of his clothed elbows scraping their way down the mound of concrete. He shuddered at the noise, and the growing pain as his battered body pitched down the incline. His body skidded to a halt at the bottom.

Cursing, he lifted his head upwards, just in time to watch in horror as a missile sailed over his head.

An explosion ripped through the air, the heat of the impact burning his exposed head. The orange flames crackled around his form and he felt his uncovered skin begin to burn. He quickly covered said unprotected appendage with his gloved hands and sleeved arms.

Shrapnel flew over him in smoky arcs. A cloud of dust enveloped him, covering him in a thick coat of grime. He felt bits of concrete pelt his back as they were ripped from their original resting places. Just as quick as it came, the noise was gone. His ears began ringing from the sound of the explosion, as well as its proximity.

Groaning, he slowly rolled his aching body onto his back to look at the floating dust particles swirling through the open air. Sasuke watched the moats of dust flutter in the breeze, with a dumb expression plastered on his face. He tried to refocus his mind, but everything was just too sluggish. He lifted his hands up to his ears, and sighed with relief since there was no blood coming out from them. He dropped his arms back down to his sides.

But he still couldn't hear anything.

Suddenly, his fingers, which lay splayed out on the cracked earth, felt the vibration of approaching foot falls. Whipping his head towards the sensation, he was surprised to see a blond male, face obscured by a black piece of material, screaming something at a smaller individual running towards him. Much to his confusion, he could hear nothing coming from the taller individual's mouth.

As in, nothing.

The only reason he knew the person was screaming was because of the erratic way in which his body was moving about. He then decided to focus his skewed attention on the smaller individual that was sprinting towards him. The small girl, from what he could tell, had dirt smeared across her face, making her seemingly pale skin eerily washed out. She had familiar pink hair, and he was trying to piece together where he had seen it before, but his sluggish brain just couldn't hack the pace. Sasuke rolled to his front again and lifted himself of the ground, wobbling slightly as he ascended. His body groaning in protest, he lifted his head up, only to come face-to-fist with an angry, glowing green fist.

Just as it fist was about to make contact with his face, his hearing resurfaced and he managed to grab onto a few words before the world exploded into a world of fiery pain:

"-GOT'CHA BITCH!!!"

Fist-to-face.

Black.

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Never before in his life, had Sasuke been in such an excruciating amount of pain.

He remembered once, when he was younger, he had accidently singed off most of Itachi's hair with a laser rifle. The beating that had ensued was, at the time, the most horrible thing he had ever experienced.

But this, this added a whole new level of pain.

As in, that level needed a ladder and a rocket ship to get to this level.

His back was aching and he assumed that he was lying either on the ground or an equally uncomfortable surface. He groaned as he tried to open his eyes. Even his eyelids hurt.

This is fucking ridiculous, how is this even possible?

While trying in vain to open his smarting eyelids, he sensed a presence appear at his side. He stiffened in alarm, only to relax slightly at the familiar female voice. Sakura.

"Umm, I'm really sorry about that punch, Sasuke. Sometimes I get a little bit too excited…"

His mind started racing. What was she doing here? How had she found him? What the hell kind of a punch did this?

Despite the pain radiating throughout his body, he replied:

"What the hell did you do to me-" he said, his speech slurring slightly since his jaw hurt as well.

As soft, tinkling laugh rose up to meet his ears, stirring his heart into a strange fluttering sensation he had never felt before. He blamed it on another ailment befalling him. He tried again to open his eyes, but to no avail.

"-And why can't I open my eyes!?"

A fit of smothered laughter rose from the girl at his side.

"Well, that's because they're swollen shut…"

Sasuke's face contorted into an ugly expression, causing him much pain in the process.

"They're what?!" he snarled out

"Swollen shut, when you break your nose, your eyes are also affected." She said in a matter-of-fact tone.

Sasuke however, was, for once in his life, speechless.

Sakura had broken his nose.

If he had been able to see her, he would have returned the favour, but since he was currently incapacitated, he had to make do with yelling. Painful as it was.

"You broke my nose. You broke it. My nose is broken. WHY did you BREAK my nose!?" he yelled out, wincing as his jaw shot pain up into his head.

Sakura, on the other hand, was having none of it.

"Well-" she huffed out "I didn't realize you were such a baby. You wouldn't have listened to us if I hadn't knocked you out. I figure that with a little persuasion, you wouldn't be as tempted to run away again. And if you haven't noticed already, your nose is the only part of your face that isn't hurting-"

As Sakura was speaking, Sasuke's mind filled with horror. Maybe the only reason he couldn't feel pain in his nose was because it no longer existed, maybe there was just a big hole in his face. He began to grow more agitated as he thought progression grew more morbid.

-maybe she amputated my nose, or-

"-because I managed to heal it. That's one of my many skills, I'll have you know-"

"Breaking people's noses?" Sasuke mumbled under his breath.

Sakura's face twitched slightly, her cheery smile wavering. "Well, yes, that's one of them. But healing is the more important one. If you stay still a little longer, I'll finish healing the rest of your face."

"How are you going to do that?" Sasuke asked tentatively

Sakura sighed. "Well, if you really want to know, it is part of my 'gift' as a recombinant. I can direct the energy in my body to specific points and can even transfer it externally. Meaning I can have super strength and have some healing abilities. But…" she said, trailing off. Sasuke relented

"But what?"

"Well-" she said hesitantly "- it takes a lot of energy to manipulate it, as well as transferring it around my body. And healing takes even more out of me. So I don't do it that often. Consider yourself lucky."

With that, Sakura reached out towards Sasuke's face. "This might feel a little funny."

As long as it wasn't one of those mega-punches, Sasuke didn't care what it felt like.

She placed her hands, which to Sasuke's surprise, were very soft, over his eyes and focused her energy. A strange tingling sensation began to buzz through his eyelids and cheekbones. It wasn't exactly pleasant, but it wasn't that bad either. It was a warm sensation that flowed through every inch of his skin. Slowly, the pain began to subside. While Sakura focused her energies on reducing the swelling in Sasuke's face, Sasuke occupied himself with something as well

He was currently trying to stifle a blush that threatened to surface across his face. He had never had a female as attractive as Sakura come in such proximity of him before. As much as he lied to himself, he found that when he had left Naruto and her, he often thought about Sakura. It was either her dazzling smile, her dancing eyes or her lithe body that filled much of his thoughts. Instead of dreaming up new ways of decapitating Oni, he would envision her twinkling eyes smiling at him, silently informing him that she knew more about him than she was letting on. He had never seen eyes quite like hers. They were captivating.

But not like he'd ever admit that out loud.

The warmth that had been spreading throughout his upper body began to dissipate and he slowly opened his eyes, finding there was no pain. He felt his shoulders relax and his body unwind from his constant state of tense alertness. He turned his gaze towards the girl that had healed him and found that she was even more stunning than the first time he had seen her. Although this time, his vocal chords were in functioning order.

The sun was high in the sky, appearing behind her head, giving her head of cerise hair a soft glow to it. He noticed that she seemed a little paler than the last time he saw her, and there were small dark smudges beneath her eyes. Despite this, she smiled at him as he gazed at her.

"So, you feeling better?"

Sasuke nodded, still caught in her gaze of emerald. A slight blush dusted Sakura's cheeks the longer Sasuke stared at her. Breaking eye-contact, she gazed down to his shoulder to let her short hair fall in front of her face, cheeks flaming.

"I noticed you also had an injury on your shoulder, but I think we'll leave that to heal naturally. It's healthier that way. But right now, you need to rest. Sound good?" she said, still trying to conceal her glowing face.

Instead of acknowledging her question, Sasuke sat up and carefully reached out to place his hand underneath her chin. Much to Sakura's alarm, Sasuke tilted her head up to regain eye-contact with her. Her cheeks flooded with colour. Before she could get out a snappy comment, Sasuke spoke

"You're pale and tired. You need more rest than I do."

Letting herself enjoy gazing into Sasuke's onyx depths for a few moments, she quickly regained her composure, swatting his hand out from under her chin.

"What is that supposed to mean?!" she said, indignation evident in her voice.

"Exactly what it is supposed to." Sasuke replied flatly. He shifted his legs off the elevated piece of metal he was resting on and stood. He took Sakura's shoulders in his hands and moved her over to the 'bed' and pushed her into a sitting position, despite her protests. After she was successfully seated, Sasuke turned to survey his surroundings, leaning against the bench, arms crossed. It looked like a sort of abandoned warehouse of some sort. Most of the windows were caked with dust, and those that weren't, were smashed in. Parts of the roof had caved in, or had been blown apart. Boxes lay strewn across the ground and there was an odd piece of rusty machinery sitting, abandoned in the far-off corner.

Essentially, it wasn't much to look at.

Coincidently, Sasuke wondered where Naruto was just at that moment.

Turning back to face Sakura, who had reclined back onto the piece of beat-up metal he had placed her on, he asked where his annoying blond teammate was

"Where has the dobe strolled off to? Or did he step on a land mine?"Sasuke said, tone remaining flat.

Sakura remained in her rather comfy position, but wrinkled her nose at his remark.

"He was freaking out so much that I sent him to go find something. He practically shat a brick when I hit you, which, by the way, I'm really sorry for, and I thought it would be better time management to send him off to find something stupid-"

Sasuke almost congratulated her on managing to get rid of Naruto so easily.

"-and you know Sasuke, Naruto isn't that bad. He's a really sweet guy. You're lucky to have him as a friend."

Sasuke scoffed at her comment, but kept quiet for a few moments. But before he could stop the words from coming out of his mouth, they were already out in the open

"I know."

Sakura sat up in alarm

"Oh my god! What have I done! I must have loosened something up there!" she said, scrambling to his side. Grasping him by his shoulders, she looked him straight in the eyes, sparkling, mocking smile painted across her lips.

"It's ok Sasuke, I can fix this!" she said, mock-concern finding its way into her voice. Edging closer to his face by standing on her toes, she scrutinized his facial features, much to Sasuke's discomfort. He watched as her eyes flicked downwards to his lips, then back up to his eyes. He began to feel the urge to lean forwards just a little more…

Suddenly, Sakura flicked him on the nose and planted her feet back down on the ground.

"Nope, nothing serious. Just a momentary lapse in your 'holier-than-thouitis'. Nothing serious." She said, eyes twinkling with mirth.

Sasuke smirked at the pink-haired girl. "Would you like a pat on the back for coming up with that all by yourself?"

Laughing, Sakura hopped back up onto her temporary metal seat. Sasuke liked her better when she laughed. Her eyes sparkled more.

A comfortable silence reigned between the two. Sasuke felt compelled to ask her how they had found him. He figured that there was no use running away, since Sakura would, without hesitation, punch his lights out again. As well as the fact that they had managed to track him down, meaning Naruto and Sakura weren't completely useless.

"How did you find me?" Sasuke asked

Sakura cocked her head to one side and looked at him. "Well, it was a little bit of luck, skill and my sheer awesomeness."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow

Sakura looked scandalized by the simple action. Her cherry lips opened in disbelief and her eyes darkened

"What was that for?! It's true!"

Sasuke shrugged, arms still crossed. "I heard a dog barking. I figured that had something to do with it."

Scandalized look wiped off her face, Sakura smiled brightly. "Oh yea, we found a dog on the Wastes, and we followed him and then you popped up in our path. That's the luck part. Naruto is out with him right now. They should be back soon-"

Just as the words left her mouth, she was interrupt by a loud yell

"SAUKE-TEME!!"

Without any warning, Sasuke felt a large weight crashing into his back, making him tumble to the floor, clawing at whatever was on top of him. Which happened to have a blonde head of hair.

"Get off dobe. Now" he said as flatly as possible.

Instead, Naruto remained sitting on top of the Uchiha, enjoying crushing his best friend into the floor

"I don't know whether to beat you up or be happy we found you, teme" Naruto said, smiling all the while.

Sakura let out a small laugh at the boys' antics. It was a wonder they were even friends, but she mused, with a tinge of sadness, that they were a lot like her and Ino. Ino was the gorgeous, out-going blonde; meanwhile she had been awkwardly thin. Remembering the night Ino had been taken from her only brought tears to her eyes. And that was the last thing she wanted to do in front of these boys. Sighing sadly to herself, Sakura regained her composure and wiped at the dampness forming around her eyes.

Too late

"Hey Sakura- chan, are you alright?"

Sakura looked up to see Sasuke, looking dishevelled, and Naruto, looking like he had just had his face rubbed into the floor, gazing at her with concern.

She gave them a big smile.

"Yep I'm fine. Say, Naruto, what happened to the dog?" she said, trying to change the subject.

Naruto smiled brightly, blinding her with the gleam of his teeth. Well, almost

"You'll never guess what Sakura-chan!! That dog actually belonged to someone! He was leading us towards them. Anyways, I met them and they were really nice and one of them offered that we could stay with them for the night."

Sasuke watched as Sakura deliberated between the choices. Her pink tongue stuck out of the corner of her mouth and her large eyes gazed upwards thoughtfully. A small wrinkle formed in her forehead as she pressed her brow together in thought. She absent-mindedly started to chew on her lip, focused completely on decision making.

Then he realized he was staring and Sakura had realized it. He quickly snapped his gaze away, a blush creeping across his face.

"Well, it sounds kind of dangerous Naruto. What if they only offered it up so that they could steal from us or worse?"

Naruto 'pffed' her response

"I said that about the dog, and everything turned out ok, so I don't really see anything going wrong. Plus the people were really really really nice!"

Sakura smiled at Naruto. "Ok, I trust you, but we should still be cautious. Plus, I could use a proper bed!" she skipped over to Naruto. Turning back, she realized Sasuke was standing there hesitantly.

"And Sasuke, we could use this time to plan our route north. That's where you're going, right?"

He nodded

"Good-" Sakura chirped, clapping her hands together "Naruto, lead the way!"

The three walked out of the side of the warehouse, Sakura happily linking arms with the two boys.

"So what are the owner's names Naruto?"

"Well, there was a pretty girl, and her name was Hinata-"

Suddenly, Sakura and Naruto were stopped in their tracks because Sasuke had decided to stop abruptly. They both looked to him to yell at him, when the realized he was as white as a sheet. He looked at them, with the most frightening look he could summon.

"Fuck. No."

They would have argued, but he seemed to be radiating a physical manifestation of hatred.

Sakura groaned.

Here we go

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A/N: hope you guys enjoyed that chapter! I'll hopefully be updating with more regularity now that everything is back to normal.

Cheers to the reviewers!